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Statement on Arctic Refuge and the House Budget Resolution

Statement of Rodger Schlickeisen, President of Defenders of Wildlife

(03/13/2003) - Early this morning the House Budget Committee approved a Budget
Resolution that, while not explicitly assuming that the House Resources
Committee would propose adding revenues from drilling in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge, opens the door for the Committee to do just
that. It does this by including a $1.1 billion budget
reconciliation instruction to the Resources Committee. There are options
within the jurisdiction of the Resources Committee for meeting this number
through other alternatives, and those who care about our environment must hope
that the Committee chooses them. But the support for drilling evidenced by
yesterday’s Resources Committee hearing on the subject – a hearing conducted
before the Budget Committee’s action – leaves little doubt how the Committee’s
leadership intends to respond to the reconciliation instruction. In
addition, the House leadership has repeatedly pushed efforts to drill in the
Arctic Refuge and it is apparent that they are using the budget process in a
perverse backdoor effort to assure that Members of the House never have to cast
an up or down vote to destroy one of the nation’s most important natural
treasures.

Last year a bipartisan majority in the
Senate strongly rejected Arctic drilling in an up or down vote. This
bipartisan consensus reflects the will of the vast majority of the American
people. The public clearly recognizes that drilling in one of our nation’s
greatest wildlife sanctuaries for six months’ worth of oil that will not be
available for 10 years is simply not worth it.

Defenders is pleased that the House Budget
Resolution does not require the Resources Committee to authorize drilling in the
Arctic Refuge, but we are dismayed that they have opened the door so widely as
to invite that outcome. The House Budget Resolution dramatically increases
the chances that the House will enact legislation to allow drilling in the
Arctic Refuge without Members of the House ever having to cast an unpopular vote
to do so. Drilling in the Arctic Refuge has nothing to do with the
federal budget and everything to do with the influence of the oil lobby in
Congress. It is time for the American people and their
representatives in the House to reject the House leadership’s plan to create a
procedural straightjacket designed to thwart the will of the American people and
facilitate the destruction of one of our nation’s greatest natural
treasures.

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Contact(s):

Robert Dewey, (202) 772-9400 x228

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For all its unique beauty, the Arctic Refuge is under assault. The oil industry and its political allies continue to launch attacks to open this national treasure to destructive oil and gas drilling, while climate change threatens to disrupt its habitats faster than wildlife can adapt.

The Conservation Registry was developed by Defenders of Wildlife and partners to provide a simple, free web-based database and mapping system. The Conservation Registry visualizes on-the-ground conservation and wildlife investments.